


Always With You

by ekaterin24 (zlabya)



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Aging, Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Implied Relationships, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-15
Updated: 2012-08-15
Packaged: 2017-11-12 05:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/487105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zlabya/pseuds/ekaterin24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doumeki has grown older over the decades, while Watanuki hasn't--until now. Written as an alternate ending for Xxxholic for the wtf_holic fest on LiveJournal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always With You

Doumeki still walked the six blocks from the grocery store to the shop, although he took a taxi to the shop these days if he had been staying at the temple. The high-tech implants in his left arm and leg, put in after his stroke three years ago, allowed him to walk without a cane for short distances. Doumeki had insisted on the external locking feature for his left elbow so he could hold his bow steady for shooting. He'd overheard the medical technician's admiring murmur about a 101-year-old keeping up his archery hobby, but it was more than that. Doumeki had needed to use his bow twice since the surgery, protecting Watanuki as he always had. 

Watanuki welcomed Doumeki at the door himself. On their way to the kitchen to put away the groceries, Doumeki observed that Maru and Moro were asleep, curled around each other on the rug. Watanuki, still looking seventeen as always, was moving more slowly than usual as he prepared tea and steamed dumplings.

Mokona hopped in quietly as the two men sat down for tea and snacks.

"I think I've figured out what the dreams about Yuuko mean," Watanuki said once he'd poured tea for all three of them. "I seem to be coming to the end of my life. As Yuuko said, I won't live forever. I've been tiring more easily lately, and everything else has been winding down too." He looked around at the sleeping girls, and at Mokona uncharacteristically eating a single dumpling instead of scarfing down a plateful at once. 

Doumeki nodded. "How long do you think you have?"

"Not long, I think. A few days at most. I've long had the feeling that I would go quickly. My perceptions of the spirit world are growing weaker, and as I said, I've been getting more tired. It's just as well I haven't had any customers in the past few weeks. Oh, and I think I'm starting to go gray." Watanuki ran a hand through his hair.

Doumeki, whose hair was snow-white, merely gazed at Watanuki impassively.

"I still have strength to make dinner, though, never fear." Watanuki smiled.

After a generous dinner of soup, inarizushi, pickles, and cakes, Watanuki and Doumeki sat on the porch drinking sake with Mokona. Yellow leaves fluttered to the ground singly or in pairs, and the chrysanthemums were gloriously white and golden.

Out of the companionable silence, Watanuki spoke. "I'll be fine with the groceries you brought today, and what I have in the kitchen. There's no need for you to come here again."

"I'll stay here with you."

"You should go back to the temple. Let your cousin's grandchildren take care of you, instead of you taking care of me."

"My home is here." Doumeki set down his glass. Their eyes met.  
Watanuki's eyes widened ever so slightly, then he smiled.

"Very well. Shall we take our baths now, or just before we sleep?"

"Before bedtime."

Watanuki puffed a little on his pipe, then laid it down. Soon he was drowsing, his back propped against the rear wall of the shop. His pipe lay beside him, letting out a thin stream of smoke. Doumeki and Mokona silently enjoyed the sake and the beauty of the rising moon.

Doumeki shook himself awake. He eyed the bottle between himself and Mokona.

"Didn't finish it off, eh?" Doumeki addressed the creature. "You _are_ getting old."

Mokona's eyes popped open. "Not old! Mokona doesn't age, just slows down."

"Like me." Watanuki commented. He pushed himself off the the porch with a bit of an effort. "I'll have my bath now. Come upstairs when you're ready, Doumeki." He stopped to smile at Mokona. "One more glass?" Watanuki poured for both his friends, then left them to climb the stairs, taking his time with each step much as Doumeki did these days.

Doumeki and Mokona finished the last of the sake. Then Doumeki slowly rose to his feet. He looked down at the empty sake bottle and bent to pick it up, then with a shake of his head he stood upright again. The bottle didn't need to be put away tonight. On the other hand, he had a phone call to make before taking his bath and finally going to sleep.

"Good night," he called to Mokona as he opened the back door. 

Mokona remained silent and still, watching over the yard like a sentinel.  
Doumeki undressed in the outer section of the bathroom. He removed the padded bag with the egg he always wore, and then released the joint lock from his left arm. The peach-wood ring Watanuki had given him remained on his right index finger. He washed up as quickly as he could before joining Watanuki in the bath. 

"Mokona is still drinking, I suppose" Watanuki commented.

"No, he's...resting."

"Hm." Watanuki frowned. "It's all ending, I suppose. The girls didn't wake up, even for the cakes I made for dessert. I wonder how much longer I'll be awake and about?"

Doumeki said nothing, but moved closer and placed a hand over Watanuki's.

"I've had a good life, though," Watanuki continued, "even though I've been confined in this shop for most of it. I've never had to worry about money or a place to live, I've had meaningful work to do, certainly some adventure...and good companionship." Watanuki turned to Doumeki with a grateful smile that was dearer to Doumeki's quiet soul than his academic accomplishments, or seeing the family temple active once again.

They leaned against each other. Watanuki's eyelids began to flutter.

"We should get out." Doumeki took one of Watanuki's hands to help him up. As they got to their feet, though, Doumeki was the one to stumble. Watanuki steadied him and they carefully helped each other out of the tub.  
As they had for years, Watanuki and Doumeki shared the large master bed, Watanuki on the right side with his glasses and Doumeki's elbow lock beside him on the nightstand. 

"Good night, Shizuka," Watanuki murmured. Doumeki felt fingertips brushing through his close-cropped white hair, and Watanuki's hand cupping his face. He sighed softly and kissed Watanuki's palm. 

Then they curled about each other, Doumeki's right arm curved around Watanuki.

Watanuki fell asleep first, something that hadn't happened in years. Doumeki reflected on that, on the white strands amidst Watanuki's dark hair, and the fine lines at the edges of Watanuki's eyes and mouth. 

_Another day at most,_ Doumeki thought. _And he might not even have the strength to cook. Or even to wake up._

Doumeki had made his decision while drinking with Mokona, and had let his cousin's eldest granddaughter, the one Kohane had trained, know what would happen. There was no need to wait. A day or two didn't matter, and this had been a fine evening, from the excellent dinner to the warmth of Watanuki curled up beside him now. Half asleep himself, Doumeki fumbled with the strings of the bag about his neck. Removing the egg nestled inside, he reached past Watanuki's sleeping form and lightly tossed the egg over the edge of the bed.

As he settled back onto the mattress, curling closely about Watanuki's sleeping form, Doumeki felt more than heard the egg crack open. He closed his eyes, feeling the molecules of the room, the shop, and Watanuki and himself begin to dissolve. 

A last, curious thought drifted through his semiconscious mind: what would the afterlife bring for the two of them?


End file.
